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This Old House

Manchester, Mass. (Part 12 of 26) (#2112)

There's been major progress on the job, as Host Steve Thomas sees the new bays and porch deck on the sea side of the house and general contractor Tom Silva and master carpenter Norm Abram begin shingling with red cedar shingles pre-dipped in bleaching oil. Steve and landscape contractor Roger Cook meet with Manchester conservation officer Betsy Rickards to learn what the regulations say about thinning a dense thicket of trees down by the water. As transformation continues on the exterior, it is time to consider interior design. Steve takes viewers on a visit to a home that is all about interiors: Beauport, a 40-room fantasy house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that was the passion of interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper. Sleeper worked on the house from 1907 to his death in 1934, fitting each room out in a different theme. Back at the project site, Norm checks in with roofer Mark Mulloy, who is fashioning a lead-coated copper roof for the bell-shaped bump-out in the music room. ~ Finally, Steve gets a glimpse of plumbing's future as plumbing and heating contractor Brian Bilo shows him the simple and quick installation of plastic water piping. [26 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.